1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to browser software to access the World Wide Web (WWW) and, more particularly, to customizable browser software to access the Web and multi-media files and applications on an end-users computer and provide marketing data about the end-user.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
Business marketing is very desirable of targeting their customers needs and interests as part of their effort to sell products and services. The advent of the global network termed the Internet, called the World Wide Web (WWW or WEB) has opened up an entire new medium for marketing in conjunction with entertainment, educational and business information and services available to end-users. Marketing goals on the Internet, as is true elsewhere, is to collect useful information about potential or actual customers and to provide customers with useful tools, applications, and information to enhance the customers dealings with the business. Such information and tools can lead to future sales. From an end-user""s viewpoint, visiting a myriad of websites is interesting, but, the only way to store such sites is to store them in a bookmark list which is not searchable and often is long and unwieldy and does not help the end-user to return to that site.
Businesses market products and services by advertising such as by placing a classified advertisement on a computer database system. These networks and on-line services like Prodigy and AOL offer these classified services. These systems usually place the advertisement into a category or sub-categories. This method allows the client (client is interchangeable with end-user, workstation, terminal or browser and server is interchangeable with host or mainframe) of the system to browse through a certain category to view the classified advertisement. Some systems will even allow the client to search for keywords in the subject of the classified advertisement. These types of systems dont""t target customers well enough to increase the customer""s interest or opportunity to view, participate in the business""s marketing research, and targeted advertising efforts. It is, therefore, highly desirable to have a seamless and easy system of gathering marketing information based on the end-user""s or customer""s browser use both on-line when connected to a network such as the World Wide Web (Internet) or intranet and off-line when not connected to a network. It is also desirable to provide up to date sales and marketing information and useful utilities and functions as well as advertising information to the customer in a fashion that will not interfere with the end-user""s operations, will not unnecessarily use his time, and will enhance the customer""s experience of using the Internet and encourage the end-user to use the browser.
Customizable software is stored in machine readable format for distribution by a third party publisher to be used by an end-user on an end-user computer having a fixed storage means and interface with a web server using a network. The software is stored electronically, typically, in a compressed format and loaded onto the end-user computer. A preferred embodiment of the software includes a graphical user interface (GUI) component for controlling a browser on the end-user computer. The GUI is installed on the end-user computer with an installation software program and the GUI includes means for displaying at least one customized screen display area on the end-user computer which is customized for the publisher third party. The customizable software includes publisher content that is at least partially installable on the end-user""s computer. The publisher content preferably includes multi-media files.
The installation software program includes means for installing a customized icon operable to launch the GUI such that the icon is viewable on a start-up screen on the end-user""s computer. The software further includes a means for changing a name of the browser that appears in a title bar on a viewable screen on the end-user""s computer.
The software includes a means for monitoring end-user behavior and maintaining a local event statistics database of the end-user behavior including event data related to end-user events. Such end-user behavior includes end-user behavior on-line and viewing locally stored files on the end-user computer off-line. The software includes a means for detecting a network connection and transmitting at least a portion of the local event statistics database to the web server. The software includes a means for compiling summary information from the local event statistics database wherein the summary information comprises the portion of the local event statistics database.
The end-user events includes logging-on to URLs and the end-user event data includes at least one of a title, a last modified date, a keyword located in a  less than META greater than  tag, and submitted data via an HTML  less than FORM greater than  including end-user data entered by the end-user in data fields of the form and an entry date and an entry time the end-user event occurred. A graphing means provides graphical representations of the end-user event data stored in the local events statistics database.
The software includes a means for detecting a network connection during program start-up and executing a transaction with the web server to determine if the publisher content should be modified. The software further includes a means for updating the publisher content that is installed on the end-user""s computer. Updating the publisher content includes downloading new files from the server and storing them on the end-user""s computer and deleting existing files which are stored on the end-user""s computer. The transaction with the web server includes transmitting at least one of a set of identifying data, the set of identifying data comprised of a unique identifier for the browser, a zip code of the end-user, an area code of the end-user, a set of keywords, and end-user demographic data. A search means is provided for allowing the end-user to search the events statistics database to locate Web pages which contain the keywords in a URL, Title, or as a keyword in a  less than META greater than  tag.
A password manager means allows the end-user to record a script of a sequence of keystrokes performed to log-in to a password secured URL, to save the script to a local script database, generate a log-in script which the browser will run whenever it detects the end-user navigating to the password secured URL with a defined script, and automatically log the end-user in to the password secured URL.
The software includes an E-mail grabbing means for automatically examining each URL loaded in the browser to locate E-mail addresses and save the Email address, the URL, the title of the page of the URL, the URL""s last modified date, and any keywords present in a  less than META greater than  tag of the URL to a searchable local E-mail database on the end-user""s computer. An E-mail interface means allows the end-user to search the E-mail database with one or more search terms and display E-mail information for E-mail addresses stored in the E-mail database which satisfy a query. The E-mail interface also allows the end-user to click-on a displayed E-mail address and invoke a default E-mail program stored on the end-user""s computer to send an E-mail to the displayed E-mail address. The E-mail interface includes a button to activate a reporting means for saving the E-mail information to an E-mail file.
The software includes an image grabbing means for allowing the end-user to selectively save an image with an image associated URL displayed on the end-user""s computer into a searchable image database. A title of the page of the URL, a last modified date of the URL, and keywords in a  less than META greater than  tag of the URL are also stored in searchable fields in the image database.
A touring means allows the end-user to selectively save tours, each tour having a plurality of tour URLs, in a searchable tour database. A tour launching means for launching a selected one of the tours sequentially downloads each of the tour URLs included in the selected tour in a background process in which each of the sequentially downloaded tour URLs can be displayed by the end-user.
A fast site install means is used to install fast site command buttons to a command bar on a display screen of the browser by the end-user entering a URL and a short name to appear on the fast site command buttons and elects to save their entry.
A content decoding means allows the end-user to selectively view information about encrypted portions of the publisher content stored on the distributed storage media. The content decoding means includes a password protection component for selectively decrypting and storing the encrypted portions when the end-user enters a password supplied by the third party publisher.
An analysis program on a statistics server connected to the web server receives and analyzes local event data from said local event statistics databases and stores results from said analysis program into a statistics database accessible through the web server. The said analysis program includes a means for compiling summary information from said results which may be in a graphical format.
The present invention has the ability to track end-user use both on-line and off-line for business marketing reports, thus, allowing the publisher to better target customers needs and interests as part of the publisher""s effort to sell products and services. The present invention allows the end-user to access publisher""s marketing information while off-line and allows the publisher to update the marketing information stored on the end-users computer (PC).
Another advantage of the present invention is its ability to provide the end-user with a website searchable database that helps the end-user to return to stored sites. Another advantage is that the publisher can analyze marketing data from one or all or any portion of the end-users who use the publisher distributed customized copies the browser software of the present invention. The present invention provides a seamless and easy system of gathering marketing information based on the end-user""s or customer""s browser use both on-line when connected to a network such as the World Wide Web (Internet) or intranet and off-line when not connected to a network. The present invention provides up to date sales and marketing information to the end-user and useful utilities and functions as well as advertising information to the customer in a fashion that will not interfere with the end-user""s operations and encourages the use of the publisher""s distributed browser. The end-user is further enticed to use the publisher""s browser and hence provide marketing information to the publisher because it does not unnecessarily use the end-user""s time and enhances the end-user""s experience of using the Internet and encourage the end-user to use the browser.